Experian Consumer Direct, provider of online direct-to-consumer credit reports, scores and monitoring, today announced the results of a recent National Score Index study showing a 16.9 percent decline from 2001 to 2006 in the rate at which consumers are opening new credit accounts and a 12.6 percent rate at which late payments of 90 days or more are increasing.The national average credit score is 675 - 7 points lower from 2001 when it was 682.
RealtyTrac(R) today released its October 2006 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows that 115,568 properties nationwide entered some stage of foreclosure during the month, the most reported in any month so far this year and an increase of 42 percent from October 2005. The report also shows a national foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 1,001 U.S. households, the highest monthly foreclosure rate reported so far this year.
More than two-thirds of consumers will purchase gift cards as their present-of-choice this holiday season, putting them among top gift options for holiday shoppers, especially last minute purchasers, notes CommercialWare,the provider of cross-channel commerce solutions
State governments have the power to dramatically change the way electricity is produced in the United States, concludes a new report by the Network for New Energy Choices.
Mortgage rates dropped to the lowest level since Jan. 25, with the average 30-year fixed rate now 6.24 percent. According to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey of large lenders, the 30-year fixed rate mortgages had an average of 0.32 discount and origination points.
Travelers renting cars at airport locations record significantly higher customer satisfaction levels with rental car companies than they did in 2005, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Rental Car Satisfaction Study(SM) released today.
Several important changes in the 12-month economic outlook and spending plans of the wealthiest 10% of Americans are revealed in The Affluent Market Tracking Study #10, the latest report in a series of twice-yearly surveys by The American Affluence Research Center (AARC).
Believe it or not, it was not that many years ago that many types of businesses questioned whether or not they should even be online. Now the question seems so last-century.
Need a little extra spending money for the holidays? Twenty-three percent of hiring managers say they are recruiting for holiday positions, according to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey. Nearly one-in-four expect to pay their seasonal hires more than last year, with 37 percent offering $10 or more per hour. The CareerBuilder.com survey, "Holiday Jobs," was completed in September and included 1,150 hiring managers nationwide.
A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive(R) on behalf of ShareBuilder found that just 14 percent of America's small business owners offer a 401(k) plan and 63 percent do not offer any form of retirement benefits to their employees. This is despite the fact that when it comes to their own personal retirement security, nearly half (47 percent) indicated they are not confident that they are prepared for retirement.
